HP 6125XLG User manual

HP 6125XLG Blade Switch
Installation Guide
Part number: 5998-3713
Document version: 6W101-20131112

Legal and notice information
© Copyright 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
No part of this documentation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without
prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WITH REGARD TO THIS
MATERIAL, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained
herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or
use of this material.
The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements
accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an
additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained
herein.

i
Contents
Installing the blade switch ··········································································································································· 1
Preparing for installation ··················································································································································1
Installing and removing the blade switch·······················································································································1
Installing the blade switch ·······································································································································1
Removing the blade switch······································································································································3
Connecting the blade switch to the network··················································································································3
Precautions································································································································································3
Connecting the optical fibers ··································································································································3
Accessing the blade switch for the first time ·············································································································· 5
Logging in through the OA module ································································································································5
Logging in through the console port ·······························································································································5
Setting up the configuration environment ··············································································································6
Setting terminal parameters·····································································································································6
Configuring the blade switch···········································································································································9
Configuring an authentication method ··················································································································9
Configuring the basic network settings··············································································································· 10
Configuration example ········································································································································· 10
Setting up an IRF fabric ·············································································································································12
Planning IRF fabric setup··············································································································································· 12
Determining the number of IRF member devices································································································ 12
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs ············································································ 12
Planning IRF topology and connections ·············································································································· 12
Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches ····················································································· 13
Configuring basic IRF settings······································································································································· 13
Connecting the physical IRF ports ································································································································ 14
Accessing the IRF fabric to verify the configuration ··································································································· 14
Troubleshooting··························································································································································15
Troubleshooting methods··············································································································································· 15
Software failures ···························································································································································· 15
No terminal display ·············································································································································· 15
Garbled terminal display······································································································································ 15
Configuration problems ········································································································································ 16
Software upgrade failure······································································································································ 16
Hardware failures ·························································································································································· 16
Interface failure······························································································································································· 17
Support and other resources ·····································································································································18
Contacting HP ································································································································································ 18
Subscription service ·············································································································································· 18
Related information························································································································································ 18
Documents······························································································································································ 18
Websites································································································································································· 18
Conventions ···································································································································································· 19
Appendix Technical specifications ···························································································································21
Front view········································································································································································ 21
LEDs ················································································································································································· 23
Ports ················································································································································································· 23

ii
Console port ·························································································································································· 23
SFP+ port································································································································································ 24
QSFP+ port ···························································································································································· 25
Cables ············································································································································································· 26
Fiber connector······················································································································································ 26
SFP+ cable ····························································································································································· 27
QSFP+ cable·························································································································································· 27
QSFP+ to SFP+ cable············································································································································ 28
Index ···········································································································································································29

1
Installing the blade switch
The HP 6125XLG switches can be installed into the HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure. The installation
position in the enclosure in this document is only for illustration. For more information, see HP
BladeSystem Enclosure Setup and Installation Guide.
IMPORTANT:
For regulatory identification purposes, the HP 6125XLG Blade Switch is assigned a regulatory model
number (RMN) HSTNS-BC59-N. This re
g
ulatory number should not be confused with the marketin
g
name
HP 6125XLG.
Preparing for installation
W
ARNING!
•The blade switches are Class 1 laser devices. Do not stare into any fiber port when the blade switch has
power. The laser light emitted from the optical fiber may hurt your eyes.
•To avoid any equipment damage or bodily injury caused by improper use, follow the enclosure safety
recommendations. For more information, see HP BladeSystem Enclosure Setup and Installation Guide .
CAUTION:
Take ESD-preventive measures to avoid damaging the components. For more information, see
HP
BladeSystem Enclosure Setup and Installation Guide
.
Installing and removing the blade switch
IMPORTANT:
•Do not use excessive force during the installation and removal processes.
•Remove the cables before removing the blade switch.
•If the blade switch does not install easily, make sure it is correctly oriented.
•To prevent dust from entering the system, install the interconnect blank into the interconnect bay after
removing the blade switch.
Installing the blade switch
1. Wear an ESD-preventive wrist strap and make sure it makes good skin contact and is well
grounded.
2. Remove the interconnect blank from the slot.
Keep the removed interconnect blank for future use.
3. Unpack the blade switch.

2
4. Press the release tab (see callout 1 in Figure 1) and then pull the ejector lever to the open position
(see callout 2 in Figure 1).
Figure 1 Opening the ejector lever
5. Slide the blade switch into the interconnect bay (see callout 1 in Figure 2) until it touches the
backplane.
6. Push the ejector lever to the closed position. (See callout 2 in Figure 2).
Figure 2 Sliding the blade switch into the interconnect bay
7. Verify that the Health LED is green after the blade switch starts up.
Otherwise, check the installation.
8. Choose proper cables to connect to the ports on the blade switch.
For more information about ports, see "Ports." For more information about cable installation, see
"Connecting the blade switch to the network."

3
Removing the blade switch
1. Wear an ESD-preventive wrist strap and make sure it makes good skin contact and is well
grounded.
2. Press the release tab to open the ejector lever.
3. Pull the ejector lever outwards slowly to take out the blade switch.
Connecting the blade switch to the network
Precautions
•Make sure the fiber connector and fiber type match the transceiver module type.
•The fiber ports have shielded covers. Remove the shielded covers before using the fiber ports. Fiber
interfaces must be installed with shielded covers when they are not in use. Keep them safely.
•Fiber connectors must be protected under safe and reliable outer packing, and be fitted with dust
caps. Fiber connectors must be installed with dust caps when they are not in use. Take care not to
scratch their end face. Replace the dust cap if it is loose or polluted.
•Before connecting a fiber, use dust free paper and absolute alcohol to clean the end face of the
fiber connector. You can brush the end face only in one direction. You also need to brush the end
face of the fiber port.
•Never bend or curve a fiber when connecting it.
•For the QSFP+ module, you do not need to differentiate between the transmitter (TX) and receiver
(RX) ports. For other types of transceiver modules, the Tx port on one end must connect to the RX port
on the other end.
Connecting the optical fibers
W
ARNING!
To avoid injury to your eyes, do not stare at the optical interfaces and optical fiber connectors when
connecting optical fibers.
You can install a transceiver module in a fiber port on the blade switch and then plug the fiber connector
to the transceiver module. For more information about installing the transceiver module, see Pluggable
SFP[SFP+][XFP] Transceiver Modules Installation Guide and Pluggable QSFP+ Transceiver
Modules/Cables Installation Guide.
To install a transceiver module into the port on the blade switch and the peer device:
1. Remove the dust cover of the fiber connector, and clean the end of the fiber connector.
2. Remove the dust plug of the transceiver module, plug one end of the optical fiber into the
transceiver module, and plug the other end into the transceiver module in the peer device.

4
Figure 3 Using LC optical fiber connectors to connect transceiver modules
Figure 4 Using MPO optical fiber connectors to connect transceiver modules
3. Verify the port LEDs for correct connection.
For more information about LED status, see "LEDs."
After you connect the blade switch to the network, use the ping or tracert command to test network
connectivity. For more information about these two commands, see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Network
Management and Monitoring Command Reference.
LC plug
SFPmodule
MPO plug
QSFP+ module

5
Accessing the blade switch for the first time
You can access the blade switch either by logging in through the OA module or through the console
port.
Logging in through the OA module
To log in to the blade switch through the HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrator (OA) module:
1. Use a serial cable to connect the terminal (for example, a PC) to the serial port of the OA module.
2. Turn on the PC, run a terminal emulator program (for example, Windows XP HyperTerminal) on
the PC, and set terminal parameters as follows:
{Bits per second—9,600
{Data bits—8
{Parity—None
{Stop bits—1
3. Press Enter and the login information appears.
4. Enter the username and password.
OA prompt information appears on the login interface.
5. Enter the connect interconnect <bay_number> command, where the bay number argument
specifies the slot number of the blade switch.
6. Press Enter.
When the command line prompt appears, you can configure the switch. For more information
about the configuration, see "Configuring the blade switch."
Logging in through the console port
When you access the blade switch through the console port, you must use a console cable (see Figure 5)
to connect a console terminal, for example, a PC, to the console port on the blade switch.
A console cable is an 8-core shielded cable, with a crimped RJ-45 connector at one end for connecting
to the console port of the blade switch, and a DB-9 female connector at the other end for connecting to
the serial port on the console terminal.
Figure 5 Console cable

6
Setting up the configuration environment
To connect a terminal, for example, a PC, to the blade switch:
1. Plug the DB-9 female connector of the console cable to the serial port of the PC.
2. Plug the RJ-45 connector of the console cable to the console port of the blade switch.
IMPORTANT:
•Identify the mark on the console port and make sure that you are connecting to the correct port.
•Make sure a DB-9 female connector is available on the terminal. If not, prepare a converter.
Figure 6 Connecting a console port to a terminal
Setting terminal parameters
To configure and manage the blade switch, you must run a terminal emulator program on the console
terminal, for example, a PC. This section uses Windows XP HyperTerminal as an example.
If you use Windows 7, download a terminal emulator program, for example, a hyperterminal or a
SecureCRT.
The following are the required terminal settings:
•Bits per second—9,600
•Data bits—8
•Parity—None
•Stop bits—1
•Flow control—None
•Emulation—VT100
To set terminal parameters, for example, on a Windows XP HyperTerminal:
1. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > Communications > HyperTerminal.
The Connection Description dialog box appears.
2. Enter the name of the new connection in the Name field and click OK.

7
Figure 7 Connection description
3. Select the serial port to be used from the Connect using list, and click OK.
Figure 8 Setting the serial port used by the HyperTerminal connection
4. Set Bits per second to 9600, Data bits to 8, Parity to None, Stop bits to 1, and Flow control to None,
and click OK, or click Restore Defaults.

8
Figure 9 Setting the serial port parameters
5. Select File > Properties in the HyperTerminal window.
Figure 10 HyperTerminal window
6. On the Settings tab, set the emulation to VT100, and click OK.

9
Figure 11 Setting terminal emulation in Switch Properties dialog box
7. Press Enter at the prompt. When the command line prompt appears, you can configure the switch.
For more information about the configuration, see "Configuring the blade switch."
Configuring the blade switch
By default, the switch does not authenticate console login users. To increase system security and enable
remote management:
•Configure a login authentication method, for example, Telnet, SSH, or NMS.
•Configure access services.
Configuring an authentication method
You can configure authentication on a user interface to control access to the switch.
Table 1 describes the Telnet login authentication methods available for a VTY user interface. For more
information about login authentication methods, see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Fundamentals
Configuration Guide.

10
Table 1 Telnet login authentication methods
Authentication
method Characteristics Application scenarios
None Easy to configure, insecure Lab environments and extremely secure
network environments
Password Easy to configure, secure, providing flat user
management
Environments that do not need granular
privilege management
Username and
password
Complex to configure, secure, providing
hierarchical user management
Environments where multiple operators
cooperate to manage the switch
Configuring the basic network settings
An HP 6125XLG blade switch without any configuration will continuously attempt to obtain an IP address
via DHCP and then download a configuration file based on DHCP options 67 and 150. To use the
auto-configuration feature, see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Fundamentals Configuration Guide.
The switch can perform basic data forwarding immediately after connecting to a network. To implement
more forwarding features, configure the basic network settings such as IP address, static route, and
VLAN. For more information, see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Configuration Guides.
NOTE:
Press Ctrl+C to break out of the configuration file download attempt. A save command to store a
configuration file will prevent the switch from seeking a configuration file after future reboots.
Configuration example
Configuring Telnet
# Enter system view.
<Sysname> system-view
# Enable the Telnet server.
[Sysname] telnet server enable
# Enter the user interface view VTY 0. The device supports 16 concurrent VTY users.
[Sysname] user-interface vty 0
# Enable password authentication on the user interface.
[Sysname-ui-vty0] authentication-mode password
# Set the password to hello.
[Sysname-ui-vty0] set authentication password cipher hello
# Set the user role to network-admin so Telnet users accessing VTY 0 can use all commands.
[Sysname-ui-vty0] user-role network-admin
[Sysname-ui-vty0] quit
Configuring the basic network settings
1. Specify an IP address:
# Create VLAN-interface 1.

11
[Sysname] interface vlan-interface 1
# Assign an IP address, for example, 192.168.0.1, to VLAN-interface 1.
[Sysname-Vlan-interface1] ip address 192.168.0.1 24
[Sysname-Vlan-interface1] quit
2. Configure a static route:
# Configure a static route, with the destination IP address 172.16.1.0 and the next hop IP address
192.168.0.2.
[Sysname] ip route-static 172.16.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.2
3. Configure a VLAN:
# Create VLAN 10 and enter its view.
[Sysname] vlan 10
[Sysname-vlan10]
# Assign GigabitEthernet 1/1/5 to VLAN 10.
[Sysname-vlan10] port gigabitethernet 1/1/5
[Sysname-vlan10] quit

12
Setting up an IRF fabric
You can use HP Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology to connect and virtualize HP 6125XLG
blade switches into a virtual switch called an "IRF fabric" or "IRF virtual device" for flattened network
topology, and high availability, scalability, and manageability.
Planning IRF fabric setup
Determining the number of IRF member devices
Choose HP 6125XLG blade switch models and identify the number of required IRF member switches,
depending on the user density and upstream bandwidth requirements. The switching capacity of an IRF
fabric equals the total switching capacities of all member switches.
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs
IRF member switches will automatically elect a master. You can affect the election result by assigning a
high member priority to the intended master switch. For more information about master election, see HP
6125XLG Blade Switch IRF Configuration Guide.
Determine which switch you want to use as the master for managing all member switches in the IRF fabric.
An IRF fabric has only one master switch. You configure and manage all member switches in the IRF
fabric at the command line interface of the master switch.
Prepare an IRF member ID assignment scheme. An IRF fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify and
manage its members, and you must assign each IRF member switch a unique member ID.
Planning IRF topology and connections
You can create an IRF fabric in daisy chain topology, or more reliably, ring topology. In ring topology,
the failure of one IRF link does not cause the IRF fabric to split as in daisy chain topology. Rather, the IRF
fabric changes to a daisy chain topology without interrupting network services.
You connect the IRF member switches through IRF ports, the logical interfaces for the connections
between IRF member switches. Each IRF member switch has two IRF ports: IRF-port 1 and IRF-port 2. An
IRF port goes up when you bind the first member physical port to it.
When connecting IRF member switches, you must connect the physical ports of IRF-port 1 on one switch
to the physical ports of IRF-port 2 on its neighbor switch.
NOTE:
The IRF port connections in the two figures are for illustration only, and more connection methods are
available.

13
Figure 12 IRF fabric in daisy chain topology
Figure 13 IRF fabric in ring topology
Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches
Identify the physical IRF ports on the member switches according to your topology and connection
scheme.
On the switch, the SFP+ ports, and QSFP+ ports can be used for IRF connection.
When two 6125XLG switches are plugged into adjacent (side-by-side) interconnect bays of the c7000,
the internal 10-GE cross connect ports between those adjacent 6125XLG can be used for an IRF
connection as well.
For more information about the transceiver modules and cables available for the SFP+ and QSFP+ ports,
see Table 7, Table 8, Table 9, and Table 10.
Configuring basic IRF settings
After you install the IRF member blade switches, power on the blade switches, and log in to each IRF
member blade switch (see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Fundamentals Configuration Guide) to configure
their member IDs, member priorities, and IRF port bindings.
For more information about configuring basic IRF settings, see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch IRF
Configuration Guide.
123 4
IRF-port2
IRF-port1
IRF-port2
IRF-port1
IRF-port2
IRF-port1
1 2 3 4
IRF-port2
IRF-port1
IRF-port2
IRF-port1
IRF-port2 IRF-port1
IRF-port1 IRF-port2
1 2
3
4
123 4

14
Connecting the physical IRF ports
Connect the IRF member switches as planned.
NOTE:
W
ear an ESD-preventive wrist strap when you connect cables or transceiver modules and fibers. For ho
w
to connect them, see Pluggable SFP[SFP+][XFP] Transceiver Modules Installation Guide and Pluggable
QSFP+ Transceiver Modules/Cables Installation Guide
.
Accessing the IRF fabric to verify the configuration
To verify the basic functionality of the IRF fabric after you finish configuring basic IRF settings and
connecting IRF ports:
1. Log in to the IRF fabric through the console port of any member switch.
2. Create a Layer 3 interface, assign it an IP address, and make sure that the IRF fabric and the
remote network management station can reach each other.
3. Use Telnet, web, or SNMP to access the IRF fabric from the network management station. (See HP
6125XLG Blade Switch Fundamentals Configuration Guide.)
4. Verify that you can manage all member switches as if they were one node.
5. Display the running status of the IRF fabric by using the commands in Table 2.
Table 2 Displaying and maintaining IRF configuration and running status
Task Command
Display information about the IRF fabric display irf
Display all members’ configurations display irf configuration
Display topology information about the IRF
fabric display irf topology
NOTE:
To avoid IP address collision and network problems, configure at least one multi-active detection (MAD)
mechanism to detect the presence of multiple identical IRF fabrics and handle collisions. For more
information about MAD detection, see
HP 6125XLG Blade Switch IRF Configuration Guide .

15
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting methods
When your HP 6125XLG blade switch fails, you can use the following methods to troubleshoot the blade
switch:
•At the CLI, use the related commands to display the system running information, and locate the
failures.
•Locate the failures according to the LED status on the blade switch. For more information, see
"LEDs."
•View the system and port operating state through the OA module on the enclosure. For more
information, see HP BladeSystem Enclosure Setup and Installation Guide.
NOTE:
If you cannot locate failures by following the guidelines in this chapter, contact HP Support.
Software failures
If the configuration environment setup is correct, the configuration terminal displays boot information
when the blade switch is powered on. If the setup is incorrect, the configuration terminal displays nothing
or garbled text.
No terminal display
If the configuration terminal displays nothing when the blade switch is powered on, verify the following
items:
•The Health LED is green, which indicates that the system is operating properly.
•The console cable is properly connected.
If no problem is found, the following reasons may apply:
•The console cable is connected to an incorrect serial interface (the serial interface in use is not the
one set on the terminal). To solve this problem, select a correct serial interface.
•The console cable fails. To solve this problem, replace the console cable.
•If you use a converter to connect a laptop and the console cable, make sure the driver for the
converter is installed.
Garbled terminal display
If terminal display is garbled, verify that the following settings are configured for the terminal:
•Baud rate—9,600
•Data bits—8

16
•Parity—none
•Stop bits—1
•Flow control—none
•Emulation—VT100
When you modify the settings for the console port of the switch, configure the same settings for the
console terminal.
Configuration problems
At the CLI, you can use related commands to display the blade switch information and locate the failures.
When you detect configuration errors, re-configure the blade switch or restore the factory settings for the
blade switch.
For more information about commands and configurations, see HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Configuration
Guides and HP 6125XLG Blade Switch Command References.
Software upgrade failure
HP recommends that you keep your software up-to-date. Periodically check the product webpage for
available updates.
To locate the software upgrade failure, verify that:
1. Physical ports are correctly connected.
2. All terminal parameters are correctly set when you log in to the blade switch through console port.
3. The information on the HyperTerminal is correctly input, including that:
{The baud rate set on the HyperTerminal and Console port are the same when software is
downloaded using XMODEM.
{IP address, file name, and the assigned working directory of the TFTP server are correct when
software is upgraded using TFTP.
{Verify that IP address, file name and the assigned working directory of the FTP server, FTP
username and password are correct when software is upgraded using FTP.
4. The FTP server or the TFTP server is operating properly and correctly configured.
5. The Flash has enough space to save the file to be downloaded.
6. The file for upgrade is suitable for the product and the file type is correct.
7. The system software image file and the BootWare file versions are correct. For the software version
matrix, see relevant Release Notes.
Hardware failures
When your blade switch is operating properly, the Health LED is green. If the LED is in other state, failures
have occurred.
To troubleshoot the failures:
1. Verify that the enclosure is operating correctly.
2. Verify that the blade switch is correctly installed. If not, pull out the blade switch and install it again.